Yamaha unveils a hi-fi with Wi-Fi, or a $700 record player

That hasnt stopped Japanese musical speaker and instrument giant Yamaha from its latest new product, a $699.99 Wi-Fi hi-fi.

The MusicCast VINYL 500 turntable is a traditional record player, a unit that many people of another generation grew up with. But once plugged into speakers, its also capable of streaming songs from services like Spotify and Apple Music as well.

The VINYL 500 is designed as part of the MusicCast system, Yamahas Wi-Fi and wireless speaker system, similar to Sonos, which enables wireless music listening throughout the home. The speakers start at $80 and go up to $499.

The turntable works with traditional, wired speakers as well, but they would need an old-fashioned amplifier to power them. The MusicCast speakers dont need to be powered.

Michael Hine, a senior product manager with Yamaha, says the idea was to bring the turntable into a wireless setting, to enable consumers with large album collections a way to now put the record player anywhere in the home, without having to worry about being close to the speakers. "Its for people who want less wires."